Is This A Dream? No, It's A Nightmare
by lovetheblazer
Summary: As point man, my job is to keep my team safe. WIth Dom, Eames, & Ariadne, that's no easy task. But I'm good at what I do. Or at least I thought I was until I woke up from a job to see Ariadne laying next to me bleeding and in pain... Arthur/Ariadne
1. Chapter 1

The job was finally coming to an end. Dom frantically studied the piece of paper in front of him, trying hard to commit every last detail to memory. The paper contained a complicated diagram with specs for a new processing chip that stood to make millions, perhaps even billions, for its unlucky inventor. The inventor knew the stakes involved in creating such a product which is why no one aside from the patent clerk with which the specs were filed knew anything of the invention. However, what the poor, unlucky inventor didn't know was that the patent clerk had been accepting bribes for year from the powerful GGDM corporation in exchange for information about any new computer-related technologies. GGDM took one look at the preliminary patent information filed with the clerk and knew that such a processing chip would revolutionize the personal computer industry. The corporation simply would not allow that revolution to come from any company other than GGDM and thus Dom and his team were hired to steal the specs from the inventor so that GGDM could scoop him and be the first to mass produce the technology.

Just as Dom was about replace the specs in the vault hidden away in the inventor's mind, the paper fell from his hands and Dom slumped to the floor, knocked off his feet by the room seemingly turning 90 degrees on its axis due to a sudden shift in gravity. "Damnit Yusuf," thought Dom "why can't you drive like a normal citizen for once instead of a NASCAR racer at the Grand Prix?" Just as Dom started to climb to his feet, a second shift in gravity caused Cobb to slide across the floor, down the wall, and onto...the ceiling? Or should Dom think of the ceiling as the floor now since gravity now held him to the ceiling, just as he had been pinned to the floor only moments earlier? For at least the fifth time since the job began, Cobb found himself wondering what was going on above the surface in reality that continued to cause this dream world to be so unstable. As Cobb contemplated this for a moment, he suddenly heard the muffled sound of the warning music that meant the kick was only minutes away.

"Shit," muttered Yusuf as the driver's side window shattered, a bullet whizzing by his head so closely that he could feel the heat caused by the friction of the bullet shooting out of the gun barrel at one hundred miles per hour. He swerved into the next lane, narrowly missing sideswiping a pickup truck. Yusuf stepped even harder on the gas, the gears of the eighteen passenger van grinding in protest at the sudden acceleration. He quickly reached over to a small remote lying on the center console, pressing a button to cue up the mp3 player connected to the headphones placed over Dom's ears. The kick couldn't come a moment too soon. Moments later, the dark SUV holding the mobsters that had been chasing Yusuf for the last hour zipped into the far left lane and passed the van. Yusuf and Cobb's team had come to the mob's attention after the mob boss had tried to hire them to extract the secret location of the Triad's stash of black tar heroin with a street value of nearly 50 million dollars. While Dom was the first to admit that the team's activities were not "strictly speaking legal," he did have a conscience and while most of their jobs fell in a morally grey area, Dom knew this job was wrong, plain and simple. He'd politely declined the job, saying that the team had retired from the dream business and wouldn't be able to help. Frankie, the mob boss, was not used to being told no and was determined to find the Triad's stash, one way or another. He knew that Dom Cobb had some friends in high places, namely Saito, and so he decided not to order a hit on Cobb's team, worried that doing so would draw unwanted attention to his organization's burgeoning drug trade. Instead, Frankie had sent several of his low level goons after Cobb's team with instructions for them to dig up some dirt on the team members that he could use to blackmail the team into taking his job. Frankie had been surprised and infuriated when one of his goons had called to tell him that despite Cobb's supposed retirement, his team had reunited and was currently driving down the 109 in a van in broad daylight while hooked up to a PASIV. Clearly, Cobb had been lying when he said they were out of dream business despite the generous compensation Frankie had offered them. Frankie's blood had boiled with rage at this news and so he immediately gave the orders for his goons to run them off the road, making sure that it looked like an accident or a random road rage killing.

Yusuf jumped as a semi-automatic rifle was thrust out of the back window of the SUV and several shots hit the front windshield of the van. Yusuf turned his head to see the windshield crack and shatter, one bullet lodging in the dash and another one piercing the passenger side seat where luckily, no one was sitting. Before the mobster could line up another shot with his rifle-powered scope and take aim at the van yet again, Yusuf slammed on the brakes and swerved across two lanes to a nearby exit, earning a number of screeching brakes and honked horns from cars all around him, but thankfully no collisions. Even better, the dark SUV several car lengths ahead of Yusuf had no time to exit and a tall center median and side rails prevented the mobsters from following them onto the access road. Yusuf exhaled a breath he did know he had been holding for the last hour and pumped his fist in the air triumphantly. He turned to Cobb and the team for acknowledgment of his quick thinking evasive maneuvers only to be met with silence from the sleeping team. Yusuf marveled at the peaceful faces that were oblivious to the tense hour that had just unfolded. He shook his head at Arthur and Ariadne's sweet faces, both of them looking like mere teenagers in sleep.

Yusuf was quickly brought back to reality by a sharp beeping from the PASIV device. Only 90 seconds remained until the dream would start to collapse and yet Yusuf had almost forgotten about the kick. It would take him nearly five minutes to get back onto the highway and arrive at the bridge where he'd planned the freefall kick. How could he drop the whole team at once without a bridge? Yusuf glanced ahead at the access road where two of the three lanes were blocked off due to the construction of an elevated ramp meant to connect to the highway. The ramp had not yet been connected with the highway but instead stopped abruptly about 50 feet off the ground. Yusuf knew it was dangerous to have the van fall to the harsh, unforgiving pavement below rather than landing in the river with the water absorbing most of the impact, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Yusuf glanced back once more, ensuring that all his team members were strapped in securely before revving the engine and shooting forward ignoring the construction - do not enter barricade. He quickly gained speed as he accelerated through the barricade up the ramp, closing his eyes seconds before the van came to the end of the ramp, shooting into the air and seeming to hang there for several minutes before the van came hurtling to the ground with the force of the impact sending the front wheels of the van flying off as the van skidded to a stop.

How's that for a cliffhanger? This first chapter is mostly exposition to make the rest of the story make sense but the juicy stuff is coming up next. Chapter 2 is already uploaded. Please review! Reviews tell me that the story is worth continuing.


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur's eyes were the first to fly open, his body shuddering from the huge jolt of impact. In the few seconds it took him to wrench his eyes open, he waited for the shock of cold water to flood the van. It never came. As Arthur's eyes adjusted to the bright light filtering in through the shattered windshield of the van, he was surprised to see pavement and bright orange construction signs instead of water. Arthur turned to see Dom looking similarly confused while Eames looked amused at Arthur's befuddlement. "Um, Yusuf?" Arthur asked questioningly. "Why aren't we in the water right now? And why are there bullet holes in the windows?

Before Yusuf could respond, Arthur heard a deep, shuddering breath followed by what could only be described as a delicate whimper. Arthur turned to his left to see Ariadne, all the color drained from her face, clutching her shoulder, her eyes shut tightly. Yusuf began to answer, but Arthur shushed him as he crawled out of his seat and knelt in front of Ariadne. "Ari, are you hurt? What's wrong?" asked Arthur. He was now at eye level with Ariadne's shoulder and could see that her dark plum button-down shirt was stained darkly with what he could only guess was blood. Arthur tried not to panic as he watched Ari struggle to take a deep breath, her eyes still tightly closed as if in agony.

Yusuf turned, his eyes registering Ariadne's obvious pain. "Oh god Arthur, this is all my fault. Those mobsters whose job we turned down were following us and I had to veer off the road to get away from them and so I missed the bridge I was supposed to drive off for the kick. I knew there wasn't time to get back to the bridge before the dream collapsed so I drove off a ramp that was only partially completed. The impact must have knocked her arm into the van door or something. We're almost to the warehouse and I've got my first aid supplies there so I can take care of her. Ariadne, I'm so sorry," Yusuf let out in a rush.

Both Dom and Eames were looking at Arthur with quizzical expressions. Dom was the first to speak. "Is she okay?" he asked, his voice sounding controlled but worried. Eames who could read people better than almost anyone knew not to ask that question, as it was clear from Arthur's face that she was not. He watched as Arthur reached for Ariadne's hand that clutched her right shoulder. He pulled back his hand a second later, looking down to see that it was indeed covered in Ariadne's blood. Eames watched as Arthur quickly covered his own shock with a determined expression and went into true point man mode.

"Ari," Arthur said, his voice soft, but pleading, "I need you to look at me." He waited for several seconds until Ariadne's eyes fluttered open. He gave her a sad smile. "Hey, I need to look at your shoulder, okay?" He watched her carefully, seeing her wince and grab her shoulder tightly before nodding. He carefully slid her left hand from her shoulder and placed it in her lap. Then he reached forward and gingerly unbuttoned two more shirt buttons so that he could slide the fabric to one side, exposing her bleeding shoulder. God, there was a lot of blood, he thought, making it nearly impossible to tell exactly where it was coming from. He briefly looked up at Cobb and Eames, his eyes settling on Dom's grey sport coat. "Dom, I need your jacket," Arthur commanded, reaching out a blood-covered hand. Don's eyes widened at the blood coating Arthur's hand but silently handed over the coat, turning to exchange a meaningful glance with Eames.

Arthur silently took the coat and began to gently dab at the blood coating Ariadne's shoulder and chest. Ariadne moaned softly with pain. "I'm sorry, Ari. I know it hurts," said Arthur. "I'm just trying to see where all this blood is coming from. Do you know what happened?" Ari just shook her head. Arthur continued to dab at the blood, noticing a small hole beneath her collarbone that seemed to be pouring blood in a never ending stream. "Oh God," muttered Arthur. "That's a bullet hole." He looked up at Dom and Eames, an expression of pure panic registering on his face. "Ari's been shot." As if on cue, Eames, Dom, and Arthur each grabbed their totems. Arthur threw his die to the floor and dropped his head to his hands as he read the number he rolled. Six. This was really happening. It may be a nightmare, but unfortunately not one that he could wake up from.

How are you liking it so far? There is much more hurt/comfort and angsty goodness to come in future and eventually some Arthur/Ariadne romance as well I hope. Is there something you liked about this chapter? Something you didn't like? Perhaps something you'd like to see me include in a future chapter? Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Dom and Eames were out of their seats mere seconds after confirming that this was, in fact, happening whether they liked it or not. Eames climbed up front to speak to Yusuf while Dom knelt to Ariadne's right side, resting his hand gently on top of her left hand which was still cradled in her lap. Dom turned to Arthur and asked, "What can I do to help?"

Arthur took a deep breath before responding. "We need to get this bleeding under control and then we need to get her to a hospital. We have no way of knowing how long ago she was shot, so I'm worried about her going into shock." Arthur studied Ariadne's face, looking for some sign of reassurance, some hint of her normally spunky personality, but only saw a weak and frightened girl who didn't deserve to be bleeding and in pain.

Eames climbed back into the front seat after leaving the van to assess the extent of the damage, peaking his head around the front seat to look at Dom and Arthur. "I'm afraid we've got another complication," he said gravely. "The impact from hitting the ground knocked off the two front tires on the van and bent the axle, so there is no way we can drive the van as is."

Arthur waved off Eames impatiently. "So, call an ambulance," he said, his attention quickly shifting back to Ariadne.

Rather than arguing with Arthur as Eames was often known to do, Eames instead cleared his throat and said, "Right, well here's where things get tricky. Yusuf just picked up the mob guy's signal on the radio. It appears that they realized that we took off at that highway exit and clearly survived the exit ramp jump. So now they are headed back our way. They were obviously aiming to kill us earlier for refusing their job, and they somehow managed to get a bullet in Ariadne. If we aren't gone by the time they get here, we are goners. If we take Ariadne to the hospital, they'll follow us and try to finish her off. If the mobsters find us, we are all in serious danger."

Arthur gave an exasperated sigh, clearly failing to cover his frustration and worry at the very deadly situation. "Well, what would you have us do then? If she doesn't get medical attention soon, she could die. Not to mention the fact that we're trapped without any transportation, making us sitting ducks for the mobsters. Tell me, Eames. Do you have a better solution?"

Dom placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder, hoping to remind him to stay calm so that he wouldn't scare Ariadne. "Look, here's what we are going to do. Eames, call Saito and tell him we need a way out of here right now. Have him send a car, buy an ambulance, send the helicopter, I don't care. You should also tell him that we are going to need some medical equipment and a safe place to take Ariadne. Okay Eames?"

Eames nodded, having already pulled out his phone and dialed Saito's number. Cobb could hear him giving Saito rapid fire instructions. "Okay right, next issue," continued Dom. "We need to take care of Ariadne until help gets here. Yusuf, you are the closest thing we've got to a doctor right now. Grab whatever supplies you've got and get back here to help us with Ari. I'm going to grab my gun and keep a lookout for the mobsters in the meantime. Everybody good?" asked Dom. Arthur and Yusuf nodded. Dom climbed to the back row of seats, his face peering out of the back windshield, looking for any signs of the mobsters.

Yusuf slid around Arthur to Ariadne's left side. He carefully removed Dom's coat from Ariadne's left shoulder, studying the wound intently. "Dom, can you throw me my black bag?" he called to Cobb. Without waiting for an answer from Dom, he turned to Arthur. "Okay, let's recline this seat a bit so I can get a better look at what's going on."

Arthur nodded and slid back the chair as gently as possible, being careful not to jostle Ari's right side. "Ari?" he called tentatively, his hand instinctively cupping her cheek as he coaxed her into opening her eyes. "Hey there, I need you to keep your eyes open and keep talking to me, okay? You're doing great. Yusuf's going to check you over and then we are going to get you to the doctor. Just hang in there."

Yusuf pulled several items from his black bag. He ripped open several 8x8 sterile gauze squares and stacked them one on top of the other. He quickly passed them on to Arthur, directing him by saying, "put these on top of the wound and hold firm steady pressure." He continued, "You should probably layer the coat on top of the bandages to help get the bleeding under control." Yusuf grabbed his stethoscope and listened carefully to both sides of Ariadne's chest, frowning as he listened to the right side of her chest a second time.

Next Yusuf tossed Arthur a needle and plastic tubing. "Arthur, go ahead and start her IV. We need to get some fluids in her to keep her from going into shock." Yusuf placed two fingers to Ariadne's neck and felt her rapid, weak pulse. Next, he observed her breathing. Her breaths were shallow and quick. However, Yusuf's most concerning finding was seeing that the right side of Ariadne's chest moved up and down naturally as her lung expanded and contracted, but that the left side of her chest remained frightfully still, suggesting a collapsed lung.

Arthur gazed down at Ariadne, happy to see her eyes open, but worried to see her looking so fragile and scared. "Ari sweetheart, we need to get your bleeding under control, okay? I need to put pressure on your gunshot wound, but it is going to hurt. Take a deep breath for me, alright?" Ariadne silently steeled herself before inhaling as deeply as she could, feeling a sharp stinging sensation beneath her ribs as she struggled to pull in air.

Arthur watched as Ariadne tried to inhale deeply and began to apply firm, steady pressure to her wound with the heel of his hand. He swallowed hard as he heard Ariadne cry out in pain. With his free hand, he reached up to stroke her hair while reassuring her by saying, "Shh, it's okay, Ari. You're doing great. Just a few more minutes until help gets here. You're going to be just fine."

Ari's eyes began to slip shut as she floated on the edge of consciousness, the pain causing her to hyperventilate as she struggled to pull oxygen into her likely collapsed lung. She struggled to open her eyes again as she felt Arthur's hand in her hair while he murmured words of encouragement to her. Ariadne looked up at Arthur, her voice quavering as she spoke. "Arthur, it...it hurts," she whimpered.

"I know, honey. I know," Arthur said in response, a pained expression on his face. "It won't be much longer before we get you out of here. Once we get you to the doctor, he can give you something for the pain. Just hang on for a few more minutes, okay?" Arthur exchanged a meaningful glance with Yusuf before calling out to Eames. "Eames, what's the ETA on Saito's car?" he asked.

Eames turned to face Arthur and Ariadne, noting that Ariadne looked even paler than she had only minutes earlier. It was clear that Arthur was hanging on by a thread, trying desperately to seem calm and encouraging when in reality, he was panicking. Eames held the phone clamped to one ear while responding. "Saito's car should be here in the next couple minutes," Eames responded evenly. "Ariadne love, how are you feeling?" asked Eames.

Ariadne responded, but never took her eyes off Arthur, even as she tried to answer Eames' question. "I'm...okay but...I've...felt better." Ari managed to gasp out. Eames reached back to give Ariadne a reassuring squeeze on the knee before turning his attentions back to his phone.

Arthur reluctantly pried his eyes from Ari's gaze and turned to Yusuf. "Yusuf, can you keep pressure on her shoulder so that I can start her IV?" Arthur asked. Yusuf slid his hand next to Arthur's, attempting to keep firm study pressure on the wound without causing Ariadne more pain but Ari let out a soft moan as Yusuf replaced Arthur's hand with his own. As point man, Arthur had been fortunate to have a lot of practice with starting IVs in order to put his teammates under for a job and Arthur was very grateful to be able to use that skill to help Ariadne. Meanwhile, Arthur quickly tied a rubber tourniquet around Ari's upper arm, found a large vein, and slowly advanced the needle into Ariadne's arm. Once the catheter was properly placed, Arthur withdrew the needle, leaving only a thin tube in Ariadne's vein. He quickly taped the tube in place and connected the plastic tubing to a large bag filled with saline.

Suddenly, the car radio began making noises as it briefly picked up the mobsters' signal while they called in to report to their boss, Frankie. One of the mobsters bragged about being at mile marker 78, a mere two miles from where the team was currently stranded. Eames, Arthur, Yusuf, & Dom exchanged glances as they tried to come up with a way out of their current predicament. After a few tense moment of debate, it was decided that Eames would join Dom in the back of the van to serve as a lookout and defend the team from the mobsters. Arthur was tasked with keeping Ari calm and continuing to monitor her condition. Yusuf began packing up all their necessary belongings as so to leave no trace or clues behind for the mobsters to find once they abandoned the van. Arthur said a silent prayer that Saito's car would find them before the mobsters did while continuing to stroke Ari's hair and murmuring words on encouragement.

Whew! How are you liking the new chapter and the story so far? I'm not completely happy with this chapter as there seems to be a little bit too much exposition and not enough h/c and angst. What do you think? I promise that there will be more h/c and angst to come and eventually we'll get to see some emerging Ariadne/Arthur romance. I'm planning to tell the next chapter from Ari's point of view, so hopefully that will give you some insight into her feelings towards Arthur and will help set up their inevitable future romance. Thank you so much to the people who have taken the time to review the story so far! Please, please keep the reviews coming and post your ideas for what you'd like to see happen in the story in the chapters to come.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks so much for not giving up on me even though it has taken me so long to update. I decided that I wanted to wait on this chapter until I had the DVD as I needed to reconnect with the characters. This chapter is going to be pretty intense but will also fill in some of the back story of the relationship that has been developing between Arthur and Ariadne and this history will become even more important in future chapters. I also tried to give you some insight on how Ariadne feels so that she seems less like the helpless victim. Hopefully I was successful!

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Ariadne had always taken pride in her toughness, her physical and mental bravery. Her father was quite fond of telling the story of how she'd tripped while sucking on a lollipop at the county fair and landed chin first on the hard pavement below, splitting open her chin and nearly biting through her tongue. She was only six. Within an instant, she was surrounded by horrified adults, each one waiting for her to start to wail, cry, or scream. Her dad scooped her up into his arms, looking her over carefully. Ariadne's whole face felt like it was on fire and she could feel the familiar pinprick of hot tears just waiting to spill over her face. And then something amazing happened. She saw a cotton candy booth, and just like that, the pain she felt gave way to a stronger desire to eat the fluffy pink and blue confection. She looked up at her father, took a deep breath, and said, "Daddy, if I'm a big girl at the doctor, will you buy me some cotton candy?"

Her father simply shook his head at his tiny brave little girl, her mouth covered in blood, whose only care in the world seemed to be cotton candy. He'd grabbed a napkin, wiped off her face as best he could, and taken her to buy four large bags of cotton candy before loading her in his truck for a trip to the Emergency Room.

Once they arrived at the ER, he held her hand and stroked her hair while a man in a white coat sewed up her chin with a needle, just like the one her mommy had used to sew her well-worn stuffed bunny's ear back on a million times. At first her face stung and then later felt funny, like it was stuffed with cotton balls, but Ariadne never let out so much as a whimper. Her father bought her ice cream on the way home from the hospital ("Doctor's orders," he later told her mom) and let her eat cotton candy for breakfast the next morning.

But Ariadne had never felt pain like this before and this time the pain was secondary to her fearsome hunger for air, making her feel like she was trying to suck soda through a straw with a hole in it. Some rational part of Ariadne's mind knew that she was losing blood and not getting enough oxygen, that something was wrong with her chest or lung and that the whole team was being put in harms way in order to stay and care for her. Even with all of these thoughts and feelings competing for her attention, the one thing that really scared her was the look on Arthur's face. Sure, he was trying to cover his fear by focusing on the plans for getting the team out of this in one piece, but she could see the overwhelming anxiety on his face every time she cried out in pain or struggled to draw in a breath.

She shuddered as she tried to think of how she would feel if the roles had been reversed, if Arthur was the one lying against the chair bleeding and in pain. She knew her feelings for Arthur had been steadily growing since they completed the Fischer job. It didn't hurt that he was gorgeous to look at it in his impeccably tailored suits. Her desire for Arthur was present from the first day they met. When Arthur grabbed her hand as she came out of the first dream (or really nightmare) when Mal stabbed her, she immediately felt safe and comforted. But she saw how seriously Arthur took his job as point man and it became clear to her that Arthur was always careful to keep his relationship with every team member including her on a professional level. She hadn't even dared to dream that Arthur could return her feelings until he'd spontaneously kissed her during the Fischer job under the very flimsy guise of "tricking the projections." The kiss was electric but all too short. The kiss seemed to communicate an unspoken need to spend more time together.

At first, there were only the stolen moments while working when Arthur's hand would linger on hers for just a few seconds longer than necessary when hooking up the PASIV device or when Ariadne would purposefully drag out her own work when she knew Arthur would be working late so that they could be the last two people working in the warehouse together. After several months of office flirting, they'd finally taken a step forward with Eames' help when he invited them both to dinner and then had bowed out at the last minute, leaving Arthur and Ariadne to dine alone together in a very romantic Italian restaurant. Ariadne couldn't be sure if Eames' help had been inadvertent or intentional, but she was grateful nonetheless. Since that first "date" or whatever you would call it, Arthur and Ariadne had found many excuses to spend time alone together and while these moments had been flirtatious and fun, she still sensed that Arthur was still holding back in an attempt to keep things professional. Arthur was clearly a man with many walls up and while Ariadne had finally started to get past some of those walls, she sometimes wondered whether or not she'd ever be able to truly see Arthur with his guard down.

However, as Ariadne stared into Arthur's eyes down, she sensed that something tangible had shifted in their relationship. Arthur's worry for her was written all over his face, now matter how hard he tried to hide it, to be strong for her. And that in turn made Ariadne want to be strong for Arthur, just as she had been for her father years ago.

She was pulled from these thoughts by the feeling of Arthur's warm hand reaching up to cup her cheek while his other hand gently brushed back the damp hair from her forehead. The feel of Arthur's warm hands against her own clammy cheek made her shiver as she struggled to open her eyes.

"Ari?," Arthur called to Ariadne. "How are you doing? Saito's car is just up ahead and we need to get you out of here now before Frankie's men get here. I'm going to pick you up, okay?"

Ari gazed into Arthur's eyes for a second before replying. "I'm...okay. I think I...can walk," Ari gasped in reply.

Arthur shook his head. "No Ariadne, you don't need to walk. I've got you. Besides it will be faster to get you in the car this way and we need to hurry." Arthur thought (but didn't add) that he felt a strong desire to hold her in his arms in order to reassure her (and him) that everything was going to be okay. He was relieved to see Ari nod in response before reaching out her uninjured arm and wrapping it around his neck.

Arthur gave a small smile as Ariadne reached for him. Arthur slid his right arm behind Ariadne's back and slowly led her upper body to rest against his chest. Ariadne winced and drew in a deep breath but silently kept her eyes on Arthur's as he moved her to his chest.

"Ari, you doing okay?" asked Arthur, while reaching out to grab her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. Ari nodded and Arthur continued to slowly move Ariadne, sliding his other arm under her legs and scooping her up like a small child. Ari's arm tightened around Arthur's neck as she buried her face into his shoulder, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out in pain.

Arthur turned to Yusuf, pointing him to the bag of saline that he'd been squeezing in an attempt to quickly get some fluids into Ariadne to counteract her blood loss. "Yusuf, can you hold onto this until we get her into Saito's car?"

Before Yusuf could answer, Cobb and Eames jumped out of the back of the van and made their way to the door next to Arthur and Ariadne. Eames flung open the door while Cobb scanned the horizon for any sign of Frankie's men.

"We've got to move now," shouted Cobb before firing at a black SUV in the distance.

"Shit!" said Eames as bullets whizzed perilously close to where he stood. He held open to the door and gestured for Arthur to step out while Cobb continued to return fire.

Arthur slid off the car seat and out into the line of fire. He easily supported Ariadne's petite frame and immediately curled his body around Ari and turned his back to the gunfire in order to protect Ari from stray bullets. Eames and Cobb surrounded Arthur and Ariadne, facing into the line of fire in an attempt to hold off Frankie's men until they could get to Saito's car.

Arthur's adrenaline had kicked in full force as soon as he heard the first burst of gunfire. Yet despite the very real danger he and Ari were currently in, he was not immune to Ariadne's charms. He could smell her delicious scent that smelled clean and fresh in a light, subtle way. He could also feel her hot breath on his neck which sent shivers down his spine. He was shaken out of his reverie by the sound of Ariadne's ragged breathing. Her breathing seemed to be getting worse, and he feared that she had a collapsed lung. He mentally chided himself for momentarily getting off track and forgetting his true purpose which was to keep Ari safe. He'd already failed her once, but he wouldn't fail her again.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as he reached Saito's massive SUV limo with Yusuf trailing right behind with Ariadne's IV bag. He slid across the large bench seat with Ari still wrapped protectively in his arms. He looked out the door to see Cobb and Eames taking heavy fire from Frankie's men. He contemplated whether he should get out and help them before remembering that as a marksman, he was no match for Eames who'd time and time again proven to Arthur that he could indeed dream a little bigger. As if on cue, Eames pulled out a bazooka (Arthur had no idea how he had gotten his hands on the gun, but he was certain that he hadn't gone through legal channels) and managed to launch enough fire at the mobsters to get him and Cobb safely to the car.

The second that Cobb slid into the car, he shouted to the driver, "Go, go! We need to get out of here and fast because they're going to try to follow us. Everyone stay away from the windows because I don't want anyone else getting shot."

The driver took off at a high rate of speed before lowering the partition to speak to the team. "You should be safe. This car is armored, so all the glass is bulletproof. I'll do what I can to lose our tail. Mr. Saito gave me an address of a warehouse where he is having the doctor meet us. He did stock the car with medical supplies in that pull out drawer down below, so take anything you need to help your friend."

"Thank you," said Cobb gratefully.

"Bloody amazing, that Saito," said Eames. He turned his attention to Ariadne, taking note that her color was even worse than it had been only minutes before. He also took in Arthur's appearance. He looked slightly less anxious but continued to gaze into Ariadne's eyes with a look of such tenderness that it caused Eames to pause momentarily. Anyone with eyes and half a brain knew that Ariadne and Arthur had feelings for one another. Their excuses for needing to "work late" were fooling absolutely no one. Eames sensed that they needed a little push in the right direction, particularly "Mr. Professional" Arthur, so he'd manipulated their dinner plans so that the two of them ended up having dinner alone at La Travia, his favorite restaurant for bringing beautiful women. His machinations seemed to have worked as Arthur and Ariadne started regularly seeing each other outside of work, going to dinners, movies, and concerts. There still seemed to be some sort of implied boundary, but things were definitely heading in the right direction for them. Eames smiled briefly at the thought of Arthur being forever in his debt for pointing him towards Ariadne.

Arthur continued to gaze at Ariadne while he gently rubbed her uninjured arm. Her body felt cold as ice and her forehead was covered in a cold sweat. Ari had her eyes open and started right back at Arthur, but he could see the how much she was struggling just to stay conscious.

"Ari?" Arthur called out while taking her uninjured hand in his. "You doing okay?"

Ariadne squeezed his hand in return while saying, "I am now."

Arthur responded with one of his rare, heart-stopping smiles. He cupped Ari's cheek and lightly kissed her forehead before gently stroking her hair. "Everything's going to be fine. You're doing great." he whispered to Ariadne although the reassurance was as much for his benefit as it was for hers.

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Well, how did you like this chapter? Pretty intense, huh? Things will be intense in the next chapter too, but there is also lots more h/c goodness to come. I've already started the next chapter, so I can promise that I'll update much sooner this time. Reviews are like oxygen to me, so if there is something you liked or didn't like, please let me know. Also, if there is something that you'd really like me to incorporate in the story going forward, what would it be? Please let me know with your review :)


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